Help!; Please give your thoughts on two itinerary plans!

[turnerx5]

Hello all. Looking for suggestions/views between the following trip plans. Plans are for a family of 5 with DS (9), DD (7), and DS (4). We're going to WDW on November 16th-21st, 2004. Staying on site @ the Poly. 1st trip for our family. Planned quite a bit, and this is the tentative plan:

Itineraries:

All start on November 16th, flight to Orlando, staying 1st night off site at Lake Beuna Vista Marriott, then checking in to the Poly on the 17th.

Plan 1:

17th (Wed):

Morning: Magic Kingdom (9-2pm), lunch at the park, 3-6pm rest/nap
Evening: Epcot for dinner (Mexico?), short tour World Showcase and Illuminations.

18th (Thursday):

Morning: MGM (9-2), afternoon nap/rest 3-5pm
Evening: MK for Spectro @ 6pm/Wishes 7pm, dinner @ Chef Mickey 7:45pm

19th (Friday):

Morning: MK (9-1pm), rest/map 2 - 4:30pm
Evening: MK 5-7pm
Dinner: Luau @ Poly, 8pm

20th (Saturday)

Morning: Epcot (9-1pm)
Afternoon: MGM 3:30-6pm (4:20 Fantasmic Package Reserved @ Hollywood/Vine)
Evening: Fantasmic 7pm

21st (Sunday)

Morning: Breakfast @ OHana Character Meal, then Animal Kingdom (10-3pm), depart Orlando 6:30pm Flight.

Plan 2 is the same as Plan 1 but with the following change on Thursday the 18th: do early entry at MK from 8-9:30, then leave for MGM. I've read good things here and in the Unofficial Guide about early entry in the off season (i.e., running the table through Fantasyland and doing all three mountains fairly easily), but I'm worried this plan will really rag everyone out/physically wreck us for the rest of the week because we'll be up late @ Epcot the night before.

Plan 3 would be to do MGM the first day (17th), then MK that night, and skip Epcot @ night altogether.

I'm not sure how much my younger son and daughter will get out of MGM other than the Muppets and the Little Mermaid. Disney's recent show schedule has Beauty & The Beast starting in the afternoon, so we're palnning to catch this show on the evening of Fantasmic. Hard to know whether to devote a whole morning to MGM. Trip is really for the kids, so I'm not worried about missing the more adult diversions at MGM.

Thanks for any thoughts insights you may have. Cheers!

.

 

[mmeb144]

The nap breaks will be a help in keeping you from dropping dead from exhaustion.

Don't forget at MGM about the Honey, I shrunk the kids playground and Star Tours. In general, the atmosphere at MGM is just fun to soak up. Also, remember to use Fastpass for Little Mermaid. Don't wait in line for this, you can visit other things while you wait.

I'm not sure I would worry about early entry on the 18th at MK. You might meet yourself coming and going trying to do 2 parks in the morning. Just slow down and enjoy MGM. WDW isn't going anywhere, you can catch whatever you miss the next time.

Marie

 

[2gether]

All of these are personal preference, but.....

To me, trying to get from a 7 p.m. Wishes to a 7:45 Chef Mickeys is a pretty fast transition. I would push the dinner back another 15 to 20 minutes....by every count I've read on the forums, Wishes is awesome and it would be better to have a few extra minutes to enjoy. Otherwise, you will be in a rush to get out of the park and on your way to Chef Mickeys. Of course, you could always splurge, and watch Wishes from the Cali Grill!

One other thing.....our preference is to save all the shopping for the last day. It seems to me like you could switch your AK visit to the morning of the 19th, and give yourselves a bit of a break, and get a few last minute "souvenears", before the dreaded trip to the airport.

Another option would be to skip AK entirely....a great excuse to make another trip in the near future!

 

[AZKathy]

What about some time at Downtown Disney? You have two boys that would just LOVE the Lego Store!

There are other things at the Studios that your kids will like. Star Tours, Indiana Jones, Back lot Tour, and The Great Movie Ride for some. Your older kids will love Rockin Rollercoaster, also! My DD (7) is so happy to FINALLY be tall enough to do RNR!!!! She also loves TOT!

Have a great trip! We will be arriving soon after you do!

 

[riopooh]

Don't forget to build in time to relax and enjoy your selves. The Poly has great pools and if you get a chance, water mice!

"18th (Thursday):

Morning: MGM (9-2), afternoon nap/rest 3-5pm
Evening: MK for Spectro @ 6pm/Wishes 7pm, dinner @ Chef Mickey 7:45pm

19th (Friday):

Morning: MK (9-1pm), rest/map 2 - 4:30pm
Evening: MK 5-7pm
Dinner: Luau @ Poly, 8pm

I would try to move the breaks so you're not going back and forth so much - I agree w/ 2gether or if you don't want to eat late - do an earlier Chef Mickeys and then back to the MK for wishes and close the place down for the evening?
Same thing on Friday - spend a little more time in the am & early afternoon - get some rest & then pool/boats before getting ready for the Luau.

And just remember - there's always next time!

 

[turnerx5]

Thanks for the ideas folks!

Riopooh, that's a great idea about Friday's plan, extend the morning and stay @ the Poly till right before the Luau.

2gether: we "have to" do MK on Friday because I was able to book a breakfast @ the Castle for my daughter, youngest son and wife @ 10:15 that morning. I was going to use the time to ride some of the rougher rides with my oldest son. This will probably be our only trip for few years, but you never know.

Question: how long should I expect it to take to get from the MK @ 10:30am to MGM?

Please keep the ideas and tips coming, I realley appreciate your thoughts!

.

 

[Disney_1derland]

Okay, the obsessive planner in me is going to run with your schedule. I'm probably going to go on and on about things you didn't ask for help with Humor me



Plan 1:

17th (Wed):

Morning: Magic Kingdom (9-2pm), lunch at the park, 3-6pm rest/nap
Evening: Epcot for dinner (Mexico?), short tour World Showcase and Illuminations.

--->When are you planning on checking into the Poly? My suggestion is to check in BEFORE you go to MK. Coming from offsite for an arrival at MK at opening will require you to leave your hotel around 7:30, it takes a good amount of time to get to the MK parking lot, then to the TTC then to the gates of the park. Last trip we stayed 3 miles offsite and it regularly took us 45 minutes to get to the gates of the MK. Plus, if you do not check into your hotel first thing that morning you will have to pay for parking. If you are already checked in then you will get a parking pass or you could just take the monorail!!!

So, suffice it to say this is going to be a really long day, especially for a first day. You'll want to pace yourselves. I would think with all of you needing to get ready and out of the hotel and over to the Poly by 7:45, you're going to have to get up by 6am. I think if it were me, I would pack one tiny bag with just what we will need that first night/morning. Leave all other luggage in the car. That morning, the person whose name the Poly reservation is in can get up and get ready as they are ready to head out the door get the others up. The reservation holder can go over to the Poly, check in, put the luggage in the care of the hotel and come back. By that time everyone else should be ready to go. Then you can go back to the Poly, park and head straight to the monorail. It may also save you some time in the check-in line later on because all you'll be waiting for is your room number.

Or.......have everyone head to the Poly together. Leave one adult to check in and have the other adult take the kids on over to the MK. Designate a meeting place (Guest relations is right near the entrance on Main Street and is a good place to meet. The kids can spend this time meeting characters on Main Street.)

Is 3pm a normal resting time for your youngest or does he normally rest earlier? It will pay to plan to rest with the normal schedule. You can always call the hotel from the park to see if your room is ready early.

Also, if you're planning on dinner at Epcot and to see illuminations then you're going to need to arrive at Epcot by 6pm. This means leaving the Poly by 5:30 at the latest. If you walk in the gates at 6pm and head straight to a PS at Mexico, plan your PS for 7pm. There are very distracting things, especially for kids, that will get in your way! It will take a bit of time to get from the gate to the Mexico Pavilion. If you were thinking more along the lines of the counter service place in Mexico then you will still need to arrive there fairly early, lots of people stake out places there for Illuminations pretty early on.

With all that, consider this....how much do you anticipate your children liking Illuminations? This plan will mean not getting them to bed until about 11pm. Illuminations starts at 9pm. I think it's about 1/2 hour show, maybe a bit longer. It will take you at least a 1/2 hour (maybe longer) to get out of the park and then you will have to wait to get a monorail to TTC, then you will have to change monorails to get to the Poly. Then you are planning to get up and do it all over by 7am the next morning.

Things to consider: There is no such thing as a short tour of the World Showcase. It's a fascinating place even for kids and you could spend 2 or 3 days there and not see it all.

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18th (Thursday):

Morning: MGM (9-2), afternoon nap/rest 3-5pm
Evening: MK for Spectro @ 6pm/Wishes 7pm, dinner @ Chef Mickey 7:45pm


For this day my only comment is that I don't think your dinner spacing is sufficient. It will not be easy to get to Chef Mickey by 7:45 unless you are standing at the front gate of MK to watch wishes. You need to arrive for your PS by 7:30. I haven't seen Wishes but I bet it's at least 15 minutes long. That only leaves you 15 minutes to fight the crowds, get the monorail and check in to Chef Mickeys. Also, you are doing 2 character meals with basically the same characters. Chef Mickeys and Ohanas. They both feature Mickey & Goofy with some other characters. What about cancelling Chef Mickeys all together and keeping your plans for Ohanas?

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19th (Friday):

Morning: MK (9-1pm), rest/map 2 - 4:30pm
Evening: MK 5-7pm
Dinner: Luau @ Poly, 8pm

Will comment below.....

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20th (Saturday)

Morning: Epcot (9-1pm)
Afternoon: MGM 3:30-6pm (4:20 Fantasmic Package Reserved @ Hollywood/Vine)
Evening: Fantasmic 7pm

--->Your morning is fine. Your afternoon is going to leave you almost no time to actually see anything other than the restaurant and Fantasmic.

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21st (Sunday)

Morning: Breakfast @ OHana Character Meal, then Animal Kingdom (10-3pm), depart Orlando 6:30pm Flight.

--->I think maybe it's a mistake to leave AK until your last day. Your kids are the ages to enjoy this park immensely.

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---> How I would do it (and I'm not expert!)
Wed: Check in early, head to Animal Kingdom for opening. Stay until 2pm. Head back to hotel and rest.

at 5pm head to MGM. Tour park while everyone in the park is waiting in line for fantasmic.

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Thurs: EE at MK stay until afternoon rest time.
4pm head to Epcot. Tour World Showcase get counter service somewhere.

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Fri:Epcot Future World in the morning, rest then head to MK for the evening.

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Sat: AK in the morning, rest then head to MGM

Okay, so I've said way to much! But I think you are underestimating your time in AK. Have you sat down with each kid individually and made a list of their Top 10 must sees? That might help you know where you are going to need to spend your time. We usually make a "Top 5" for each park for each kid and live by that at the beginning of the trip and then take a day at the end to catch other things or do favorites again. With such a short trip I would personally not spend much time on character meals or dinner shows. I would maximize my time at the parks. But, talk to the kids, see what their priorities are and make a plan. But, once you get there, don't be afraid to throw that plan to the wind and do what the kids are begging you to do!

Have an amazing trip! The First time is so wonderful!

 

[turnerx5]

Disney_1derland, thanks for your insights. One thing I can't do is not be at Magic Kingdom on Friday morning, I've got a 10:10 resi for Cindarella's breakfast for my DD, DW and youngest DS. I was hoping to use that time to ride some of the rougher rides with my oldest at MK, or to steal a quick morning @ Epcot with my oldest to hit Test Track, HISTA, the Land and Mission Space (skipping EPCOT for the younger kids). Really coming to grips with not seeing everything I want us to see!

 

[Disney_1derland]

You cannot see it all in one trip, or probably even two. It's hard to prioritize, but leaving things undone leaves new exciting things for a future trip! This is my 4th trip and there are still things I haven't seen!

Remember that WDW is a beautiful place, so take time to notice the detail and thought that goes into everything they do, you will, of course, have a magical time no matter what!